Contest!

I have a Christmas stocking from the central Texas area that needs a home.

You have a favorite holiday song to share with my bad self.

Why a holiday song, you ask? Y'all…

I'm a music whore. I admit it. I had to buy a separate hard drive just for iTunes music. No, really. I have 455 Christmas songs and I'm always looking for that new favorite arrangement.

Now, I can tell you that Mahalia Jackson's version of Go Tell It on the Mountain is my eternal favorite. My mom had this album when I was little (yes, kiddies, once upon a time, people had these magical machines called record players and they played these circles called record albums. They were a little twitchy and, in my recollection, if you made your daddy have to replace the needle, you weren't allowed to put the records on yourself. Also, playing Angry Gorilla next to the record player was bad.) At any rate, this album was a double and the cover opened to a pop up Christmas scene complete with baby Jesus and gigantic dangling star hanging over hippie Mary. I loved it.

Loved it.

It had Andy Williams and Steve and Edie. Bing Crosby. But for me, it was Mahalia Jackson. That voice meant Christmas.

Now, that doesn't mean that I don't love the newer stuff. Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keen, Oklahoma Christmas by Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison. Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles. This year it's the Baby It's Cold Outside arrangement from Glee.

So, tell me your favorite. I want to know, and I might need to hear it.

I'll let Julia pick a random number to win ye olde Christmas sock.